Big Sky National Monument - Stonewall, TX

Lyndon Johnson is not a president often associated with the Antiquities Act. In his term, he enlarged four existing national monuments and established another two, most of which he did only at the behest of others. The exception to this is Big Sky National Monument. Set close to his ranch in Stonewall,Texas, Lyndon used to load VIPs into the back of his Lincoln Continental and go careening across the open prairies that would one day become the monument. He’s quoted saying that he loved seeing the faces of those unfamiliar with the Texas sky, crushed under the weight of it. And admittedly, there is something magical about the skies over the Lone Star State, something countless have commented upon. It’s in every song and story the state has to offer, the wide panorama of open sky that ensures storms can never sneak up on you, that teaches you from an early age how small you are in the world. It’s only fitting that a state obsessed with size would be blanketed by an equally big sky. Previ...

Autumn Ridge State Park

In the same way that Snow Valley was largely ignored until tourism became a possibility in the mid-20th century, the surrounding country, known as Autumn Ridge, likewise avoided development, its rocky prominences a terrible terrain for farming and development. But when developers swallowed up Snow Valley, twisting it into a developed cesspool of tourism, a small number of concerned citizens turned their eye to save Autumn Ridge from this same fate. The plan was to set the land aside as a state park, a place where people could flock to enjoy the area’s rich hiking, birding, and hunting. The “Save Autumn Ridge” campaign was successful and in 1972 Autumn Ridge State Park was established. 

There is a misconception that the ridge is named because it lies between the temperate lands of Texas and a spot of cold, eternal winter, but this is not the case. The area received its name from the peculiarity of its foliage which shows tangerine, goldenrod, and crimson for nine months out of the year. The colors are mainly the product of the Paintbrush Maples which grow along the ridge, changing their leaves from green to fiery orange and back up to five times in a single year.


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